Excellent 9 months for Gruppo Lottomatica

The giant Italian lottery and gaming operator Gruppo Lottomatica has released its financial results for the first nine months of 2009 showing a solid 14 percent year-on-year increase in revenues to Euro 1.592 billion.

The Rome-based group also posted EBITDA of Euro 596.4 million, up 4 percent when compared to the same period in 2008, and reported on Board appproval for a senior unsecured bond of up to Euro 750 million to re-finance part of its current debt burden.

'Gruppo Lottomatica has just completed a [third] quarter in which we enjoyed significant commercial success,' said Marco Sala, chief executive of the Lottomatica group.

'We have positioned ourselves to be the sole concessionaire for the Italian scratch and win license. By securing approximately 20 percent of the newly available video lottery terminal licenses, we will significantly expand our Italian gaming solutions business. And, with the approval of the cross selling of multi-jurisdictional jackpot games in the US, same-store revenue growth will be enhanced.

'All of these developments will be significant contributors to the sustainability of our results. [Land] industry trends are encouraging as well. Same-store revenues appear to be on the upswing and anticipated operator opportunities are beginning to materialise.

'Further, we are seeing the beneficial impacts of governments expanding their lottery programmes to meet severe budget gaps.'

'Despite the challenging economic climate, I am pleased to report that we experienced top-line growth in all of our businesses,' said Stefano Bortoli, Chief Financial Officer for Lottomatica.

'Following the recently-announced share capital increase to fund expansion opportunities in the Italian market, we will also improve our capital structure through the Board-approved Euro 750 million bond, which will allow us to refinance our existing debt, further diversifying funding sources and lengthening the average maturity of our debt."